A shame, yes and no. It stems from humanitarian ideas, and the fact that most very elderly prisoners, say your ordinary thieves or murderers, are pretty harmless in their dotage. There is a similar provision in Argentina, and as a result Videla, one of the leaders of the junta, was under house arrest. Problem is, he continued with fascist utterances and threats, so he is in some kind of secure facility now.

I wonder if Italy has any similar provisions for elderly mafiosi, who are good at running things, even if they can barely move.

A majority of Italian voters have supported Eurosceptic candidates in the national election, preliminary results showed, after decades in which Italy has steadfastly championed the European project.

Early results released by the interior ministry on Monday morning, as ballots continued to be counted, pointed to a hung parliament, though there was still a possibility that the centre-right coalition, with about 37% of the vote, could secure a majority once parliamentary seats are allocated.